Israel said Wednesday that seven soldiers were killed in Gaza in an attack on their armored vehicle, in one of the deadliest incidents for its forces in the more than 20-month war.

The troops were operating in the southern city of Khan Yunis on Tuesday when their vehicle caught fire after assailants attached an explosive device to it, the Israeli military said.

The army's website listed the names of the seven soldiers, including a platoon commander from the battalion who "fell during combat in the southern Gaza Strip."

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it was "a difficult day for the people of Israel" in a message on social media.

One of the deceased, Staff Sergeant Ronel Ben-Moshe, 20, was laid to rest on Wednesday at a funeral in Rehovot, south of commercial hub Tel Aviv, where family and friends remembered the reservist.

"He was always the first to step up for the hostages held by Hamas — going house to house in the search," Ariel, 21, who served with him, told AFP.

Ben-Moshe's uncle, Shmoulik Yannay, said: "Everyone told him not to go back — he was already a veteran, he didn't have to.

"But he wouldn't listen. He felt he had to be there to support his friends who were still out there."

Israel invaded Gaza in response to attacks by the Islamist militant group Hamas in October 2023 which resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Of the 251 hostages seized by Palestinian militants in October 2023, 49 are still held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead.

The military losses fueled calls for a truce to end the fighting in Gaza.

"The war in Gaza has run its course, it is being conducted with no clear purpose and no concrete plan," the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, the main group representing the families of those abducted by Hamas, said in a statement.

Deadly Gaza fighting

Israel's retaliatory military campaign against Hamas has killed at least 56,156 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the Gaza health ministry. The United Nations considers its figures reliable.

The deadliest incident for Israeli forces in the war was recorded on 22 January 2024, when 21 soldiers were killed in the collapse of two buildings that came under fire from Palestinian gunmen.

More than 440 Israeli soldiers have died in the war so far.

The territory of more than two million people is suffering from famine-like conditions after Israel blocked all supplies from early March to the end of May and continues to impose restrictions, according to human rights groups.

After Israel agreed to a ceasefire with Iran on Tuesday, Israel's military chief Eyal Zamir said the focus would now shift back to Gaza.